4.  The applicant was born in 1964 and lives in Lublin.
5.  The applicant was arrested on 31 January 2001 on suspicion of fraud. On 2 February 2001 the Warsaw District Court ordered his detention on remand in view of the reasonable suspicion that he had committed aggravated fraud. It relied on the severity of the anticipated penalty and the fact that the applicant had been previously convicted. In addition, the District Court found that there was the risk that the applicant would abscond, given that he had no permanent abode in the country.
6.  On 27 April 2001 the District Court prolonged the applicant’s detention until 30 July 2001, relying on the same grounds as in the first detention order. It observed that the applicant had not registered a permanent residence anywhere in the country.
7.  On 9 May 2001 the applicant was questioned by the prosecutor. On 8 June 2001 the prosecutor ordered that evidence be obtained from psychiatrists to establish whether the applicant had acted in a state of diminished responsibility. The relevant reports were submitted on 18 June and 5 September 2001.
8.  On 20 July 2001 the District Court extended the applicant’s detention. In addition to the grounds previously invoked, it ruled that the prolongation of his detention was justified by the need to obtain further evidence. In its decision of 18 September 2001 prolonging the applicant’s detention until 30 November 2001, the District Court invoked for the first time the risk that the applicant might interfere with the proceedings and attempt to influence witnesses.
9.  On 10 November 2001 the prosecution filed with the Warsaw District Court a bill of indictment against the applicant and one other suspect. The applicant was charged with four counts of fraud. The prosecution requested the court to hear twenty-nine witnesses and two experts.
10.  On 22 November 2001 the District Court ordered that the applicant be held in detention until 30 April 2002. It considered that no other preventive measure could secure the proper conduct of the proceedings, having regard to the severity of the penalty faced by the applicant and the fact that he had no permanent abode in Poland.
11.  On 25 April 2002 the District Court extended the applicant’s detention until 30 August 2002. In addition to the grounds previously invoked, it held that there was a risk that the applicant might attempt to influence some of the witnesses who had been in close personal or business relations with him.
12.  On 20 June 2002 the trial court held the first hearing and heard evidence from the applicant and his co-accused.
13.  The applicant’s detention was subsequently prolonged on 28 August 2002 (until 31 January 2003).
14.  In the meantime the period of his detention pending trial had exceeded the two-year time-limit set out in Article 263 § 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Consequently, on 28 January 2003 the Warsaw Court of Appeal ordered that the applicant be kept in custody until 31 July 2003. It found, inter alia, that the nature of the charge against the applicant might prompt him to influence the witnesses. In addition, it observed that the trial could not be concluded on account of the applicant’s conduct, and not for reasons attributable to the trial court. It also stated that the trial court should endeavour to conclude the trial by 31 July 2003.
15.  The applicant’s appeal against that decision was dismissed by a different panel of the Court of Appeal on 4 March 2003. The Court of Appeal found that the applicant had attempted to influence the testimony of his wife as transpired from his letter to her which had been intercepted. Furthermore, it ruled that the applicant’s detention was justified by the fact that he had not lived at the place of his registered permanent residence and that he had been changing addresses and names of his companies without notifying creditors. The Court of Appeal also found that the prolongation was justified by the complexity of the case and the volume of evidence to be heard.
16.  On 7 March 2003 the Warsaw District Court dismissed the applicant’s request for the trial court’s judges to withdraw from examining his case.
17.  From 23 April to 14 May 2003 the applicant underwent medical treatment in the Łódź Detention Centre. Hearings scheduled for 7 and 13 May 2003 were cancelled due to the applicant’s treatment.
18.  On 25 July 2003 the Court of Appeal extended the applicant’s detention until 31 October 2003, invoking the same grounds as previously.
19.  On 24 October 2003 the Court of Appeal prolonged the applicant’s detention until 30 November 2003. It found that a judgment could not be delivered before 31 October 2003 because of the illness of a lay member of the trial court and a problem with securing the presence of an important witness.
20.  The trial court held about 23 hearings. Four hearings (25 April and 23 May 2002; 10 March, 15 April 2003) were adjourned because the applicant had not been brought by the police to court from a detention centre. It appears that seven hearings were adjourned due to the absence of the applicant’s counsel (25 April, 28 August, 2 October, 22 November and 17 December 2002; 20 and 26 March 2003). Three further hearings were adjourned on account of the illness of a lay judge (18 July and 20 November 2002; 25 September 2003). One hearing was adjourned at the applicant’s request (15 January 2003). On 23 April 2003 the trial court adjourned the hearing due to the absence of witnesses.
21.  During the investigation and the trial the applicant filed a number of unsuccessful applications for release and appealed, likewise unsuccessfully, against decisions prolonging his detention.
22.  On 27 October 2003 the Warsaw District Court delivered its judgment. It convicted the applicant of three counts of fraud and sentenced him to six years and six months’ imprisonment and a fine.
23.  The applicant appealed. On 3 August 2004 the Warsaw Regional Court upheld the first-instance judgment.
24.  On 12 January 2006 the Supreme Court dismissed the applicant’s cassation appeal as manifestly ill-founded.
25.  On 29 November 2004 the applicant filed with the President of the Warsaw Regional Court a complaint about a breach of the right to a trial within a reasonable time and asked for compensation. He relied specifically on section 18 of the Law of 17 June 2004 on complaints about a breach of the right to a trial within a reasonable time (“the 2004 Act”) which entered into force on 17 September 2004.
26.  However, on 13 January 2005 the Warsaw Regional Court decided not to take cognisance of the applicant’s complaint, pursuant to section 5 of the 2004 Act. It held that the complaint about the unreasonable length of the proceedings had to be lodged during the course of the impugned proceedings. However, in the applicant’s case the complaint could not be examined since the impugned proceedings were terminated by the judgment of the Warsaw Regional Court of 3 August 2004.